COPING WITH THE CREEK: HIGH AND DRY; FLOODS NOW LESS A THREAT TO CAPE GIRARDEAU; BUT FLOOD PLAIN MAPS DON'T KEEP PACE WITH CONTROL PROJECT

More than $40 million and 10 years later, Cape Girardeau is less threatened by potential flood damage. The widening and paving of Cape LaCroix Creek and Walker Branch, which began in 1991, is complete except for a 157-acre detention basin just north of Boutin Drive.

But all the improvements are unofficial, which means many businesses and homeowners are still paying several hundred dollars a year for flood insurance required by lenders yet rendered unnecessary by the flood control project.

Insurance agencies are still required to use a Federal Emergency Management Agency flood plain map that was completed in 1980 to determine risks and rates for Cape Girardeau residents.

Until a new flood plain map is created after June 2002, when the detention basin is scheduled for completion, the outdated map is the rule.

The idea of improving flood control in the city has been an issue since the early 1970s, said William Vaughn, development services coordinator for Cape Girardeau's Division of Planning Services. But serious changes weren't sought until after the 1986 flood, which caused $56 million in damage mostly in western Cape Girardeau. Two people were killed in the city by flash flooding, while more than 800 homes in Scott and Cape Girardeau counties were damaged in the storm.

Residents mobilized to pass a quarter-cent sales tax in 1988 to fund improvements while the city adopted its first storm water management regulations in 1989. Immediately after the flood, a mix of city money and private donations were used to dredge and clear portions of the waterways south of Bloomfield Road to the Mississippi River.

"If the storm water regulations were in place all those years ago, we wouldn't have to build all this now," Vaughn said.

Residential and commercial development carried out without a thought for flood control were responsible for the flooding in 1977 and 1986, he said.

Costly project

The Cape LaCroix-Walker Branch project involved three miles of channel modifications on Cape LaCroix Creek and Walker Branch, constructing a water detention basin just north of the city limits and building a four-mile hiking and bicycling trail.

The project also replaced eight bridges along Kingshighway.

The Army Corps of Engineers picked up 75 percent of the cost, with the rest funded through the city sales tax.

Originally, it was slated for completion in 1994 at a cost of $35 million. But slow acquisition of easements increased the time what is now 2002 and cost to $40 million.

Getting property for the detention basin was a particular problem, Vaughn said. The city attempted to negotiate with 10 property owners holding land intended for the detention basin. Some agreed, while others balked at the city's compensation. To facilitate the process, Cape Girardeau called in the Army Corps of Engineers to condemn the remaining lands in federal court.

The final piece of property will be transferred to the project this spring, Vaughn said.

"Some areas will be completely out of the flood zones on the new map," he said.

Engineers have stated that the project reduces the possibility for damage by a 100-year flood by about 75 percent. A 100-year flood has a 1 percent chance of occurring in a flood plain each year. Structures in this area generally must carry flood insurance.

But even in a floodway, which is the center of the flood plain that fills with water first, some residences might not have to buy flood insurance. It depends on the elevation of the lowest level of a structure, Vaughn said.

"If a property is on the fringe of a flood plain, we will suggest that the owner consider hiring a surveyor," he said.

When a survey shows a property's elevation as higher than surrounding ground, it's possible that a lender or mortgage company won't require flood insurance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency states.

Conflicting beliefs

But FEMA's out-of-date map for Cape Girardeau's flood plain is requiring flood insurance from homeowners who actually don't live in a flood plain anymore.

Only half of Clyde Metzger's lot lies in the flood plain, according to the 1980 map, so he has escaped having to buy flood insurance. Metzger only experienced flooding problems once at his property near Bloomfield Road and Sheridan Drive since he bought it in 1949, but neighbors around him pay as much as $800 annually for lender-required flood insurance.

He said he would argue with anyone who told him to take flood insurance, especially following Cape LaCroix Creek's improvements.

"I think requiring flood insurance in our area is ridiculous," he said.

John Sanders disagrees. He operates Sander True Value Hardware Store in the Town Plaza. In the 1986 flood, the depth of water in his store ranged from 32 to 38 inches, he said.

Two years ago, Sander remembers watching LaCroix Creek fill up with great anxiety, waiting to see if the improvements would work.

"It did get to the bridge bottoms, but no one got flooded," he said.

Even when the detention basin is finished and FEMA mappers get to work, Sander doubts he'll drop his flood insurance. After seeing what a flood does, he doesn't want to take any risks.

Most of the seasoned business owners in Town Plaza, which had an average water depth of 8 inches during the 1986 flood, feel the same about flood insurance, he said.

Old flood plain maps are a national problem for FEMA, said George Riedel, who heads flood plain management for Missouri's Emergency Management Agency. Most maps are 10 years old, and over $700 million has been dedicated to updating them, he said.

But this money is doled out annually, and states and regions compete for it.

"Four states in our area are asking for the same FEMA money," Riedel said.

FEMA serves as the national keeper of flood plain maps, but the actual mapping is contracted to the Corps of Engineers or private firms. Contractors typically do a study of a watershed, examine runoff patterns, consider elevations and then feed the information into a computer to determine the 100-year flood plain.

If anyone wants to find a place to live that does not require flood insurance, all they have to do is look across the river, Vaughn said. Alexander County opted out of the National Flood Insurance Program years ago. Vaughn said he has relatives in Illinois who tried to buy flood insurance prior to the 1993 Mississippi River flooding but couldn't. They lost everything.

"Sometimes flood insurance is a very good thing," he said.